Dell Boomi AtomSphere Review

A platform used to build enterprise level integrations.

Valuable Features

As a NetSuite application developer, Dell Boomi is a great integration platform to build enterprise level integrations in a quick and easy way.

The Salesforce and NetSuite Application specific “connectors” provide a layer of abstraction on top of the SOAP-based APIs to streamline integration development.

In a narrow sense, the most beneficial feature is the ability to quickly create request/response data model “profiles” to map and transform the data being integrated.

Profiles can be generated through the “import wizard” that is rather time consuming with other integration development platforms, or in a custom .Net application.

Improvements to My Organization

Using Boomi as our preferred integration platform has allowed us to more quickly develop, deploy, and maintain integration for clients. This is especially the case with NetSuite clients who are already familiar with the benefits of cloud-based business software applications.

Room for Improvement

Since the application is Java-based, custom scripting within the map data, used to transform shapes to handle more complex process, is lacking in some ways.

There is no validation in the mapping profile custom scripting, such as IntelliSense or advanced error checking.

If one wants to do custom scripts within a map shape, they must have knowledge of Groovy or JavaScript. Only Groovy has the ability to use Java-based libraries.

The scripting capabilities are lacking, in my opinion, based on the user experience. There is not much tooling assistance. There are no “helpers” or examples on how to do more advanced post/pre-processing of data.

For example, if I wanted to parse an XML document using XPath, how would I do that? How do I know the code that I write will compile without having to unit test through trial and error over and over again?

The IDE is lacking in the ability to script. So the biggest benefit of Boomi, being a graphical integration IDE, is a weakness in this sense. Also, you are locked into Groovy as the only language to do advanced scripting.

I’m used to writing code in my preferred IDE, Visual Studio. In VS, there are lots of tools to assist in the writing of scripts (even JavaScript) to have Intellisense and autocomplete help, which cuts down on development time, as well as code quality.

Use of Solution

I have used Dell Boomi for two years.

Deployment Issues

The only issue we have had with performance is tied to the performance limits of the APIs being used, such as the NetSuite SuiteTalk API. This can be slow at times when querying large amounts of data in a start shape.

Customer Service and Technical Support

Technical support, through support tickets and the Community Forum, is relatively responsive. Our organization has taken advantage of technical solution experts for our clients, since we are a partner/reseller of Boomi.

Previous Solutions

We have evaluated Jitterbit. We find Boomi much easier to use, since the AtomSphere IDE is more streamlined and intuitive.

The IDE runs completely in a browser and requires software on the user’s machine.

Initial Setup

There is no setup required to develop and manage integrations in Boomi.

Implementation Team

Our consulting practice delivers Dell Boomi integration projects to our clients as stand-alone or as a part of larger NetSuite implementations.

ROI

We recommend pricing/licensing based on the client’s needs and requirements.

Other Advice

Since it is Platform as a Service (PaaS), we recommend that clients plan for future growth based on the type of licensing model they use.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are a Referral Partner with Dell Boomi – especially for our clients running on NetSuite.